Yahoo released their new Guidelines on being indexed in their search engine the end of July, 2004.
Many Search Engine Optimization Companies believed that Meta Tags were a thing of the past. However, these new guidelines clearly show otherwise. This is an important reminder to all websites and website owners that you MUST keep on top of all changes at all times.
You can see a copy of Yahoo's Guidelines on Spam
Search Engine Watch published an article July 14th with a recent update from of Top Search Engines Used by Nielsen Netratings showing that although Google is the number 1 (41.6%) search engine used, Yahoo! is right in second place with 31.5% users. Read the Article
So how do these changes effect Yahoo Store Owners?
Unless our stores are optimized correctly, we are losing nearly a 3rd of all website traffic. At present time, the Standard Yahoo Store Templates work against you in regards to Search Engine Optimization. They specifically state that they will be focusing on sites that make relevant use of Meta Tags yet any Standard Yahoo Store (one that has not had the RTML rewritten) Item Pages have NO meta tags. Want to see for yourself? Grab the URL of any of your Item Page and goto http://www.gritechnologies.com/tools/spider.go Place the URL on top and Click On Poodle Search. From there look at your source code and at the very top you would see Meta-Tag Keywords and Descriptions. Unfortunately you will not see these in the Basic Yahoo Store.
Now that we have addressed the problem, how do we fix it?
You will need to do 1 of 2 things:
#1 You need to go into each and every item page and physically add these yourself. Step By Step Instructions For Adding Keywords
#2 You need to hire a designer/and or search engine optimization specialist that works specifically with Yahoo Stores. Before hiring a SEO firm, ask them if they know how to rewrite your RTML templates. If they say no, then you say no. This is extremely important.
How can a Yahoo Specialist change your Yahoo Store to assist you with SEO?
- Place Title Tag in the proper area for search engine optimization
- Place keywords for each of the items increasing targeted traffic which have a higher conversion rate for sales.
- Add Meta Description tag to all items
- Item Names are images and not text. Search engines can not read text. Converting the Item Names to text will greatly improve relevancy which will increase your rankings
- Making other necessary additions and changes to the basic RTML within Yahoo Stores to add relevancy and content to your site
About the Author:
Shawna Fennell has owned and operated Yahoo Stores for over 4 years. She is the founder of 1 Choice 4 YStore a complete resource and informational site devoted to Yahoo Store Owners. Visit www.1choice4ystore.com for more information.
